In September 2023, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jackie Frederick sounded the alarm on a critical issue affecting our nation’s veterans: the absence of crucial compensation from their first month following discharge. Despite raising her voice over two years ago, the issue remains unaddressed.
Frederick, a former Air Battle Manager, has actively sought assistance, reaching out to her congressmen and sharing her story through various media outlets. Her frustration stems from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) not determining her disability rating until after she submitted her DD-214, a certificate that’s only available the day after a service member leaves the military.
Frederick retired on November 30, 2022, yet the VA set her disability effective date as December 1, 2022, and her payment effective date as January 1, 2023. This left her without compensation for December 2022, a glaring issue confirmed by her VA disability paperwork.
She explains, “Because the DD-214 is not available until the first day after retirement or separation, there’s an issue with a disabled veteran’s first month of disability not being a full month.” Frederick added, “the VA, according to 38 USC 5111, won’t start payment benefits until there is a full calendar month of disability.”
Despite completing the VA’s Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) process, Frederick did not receive her disability rating until mid-January 2023, nearly eight months after her initial submission. Consequently, her first disability check arrived only on February 1, 2023.
“An entire month of pay was missing. I was not compensated for my first month of disability, so am I disabled or not?” Frederick queried. She criticized the logic, saying, “It just doesn’t make sense to call a veteran disabled, assign a disability rating, but then say you aren’t disabled until a month after you leave the service.”
When Frederick sought answers, the VA simply stated, “This is how it has always been.”
Frederick believes many veterans don’t notice this missing month of pay amidst the chaos of retirement or separation. “And if they do, they ask the VA only to find out their pay is considered correct and ultimately give up trying to fight the VA,” she added.
Frederick argues, “While the VA is not legally wrong, they are morally wrong by not addressing the need to change 38 USC 5111.” She emphasizes that “one single disability paycheck could help so many disabled veterans and their families, especially those who are homeless.” For Frederick, “the answer is simple: change the verbiage of 38 USC 5111 to allow for a prorated month of disability now.”
